Quintessential Mystery
by Yashahime
Summary: Mayura tells her version of Loki's tale. Based on the anime, folks, I'm poor and don't have the manga. Sorry!


Quintessential Mystery  
By Yasha-hime

  


  
There's something strange about Loki-kun.  I've always known that, right from the moment I met him.  Well, actually, from a little before I met him.  You kind of notice it when suddenly there's a detective agency that was never there before, in a house you can't remember seeing before, on a street you walk down all the time.  I've got a pretty good memory, and I can't really remember that house from before then.  I've got some kind of vague recollection of a moldy old pile of a house that used to belong to Old Money before they went bankrupt, but I'm pretty sure it didn't look anything like Loki-kun's house, not even on the outside.  And I sure never saw any workers in there repairing it!  
I think that's why I decided not to go in right away.  Mixing mysteries, I thought at the time, might not be a good idea.  What if I got confused and lost out on both of them?  Besides, the doll was lost already, and it would be awfully hard to lose a house.  I could come back.  
Well, I did.  Because I couldn't find the doll, I went back to that place.  I wasn't really sure whether I should go in, if they'd be able to help me.  I was sure they'd believe me, though; a mysterious detective agency would surely believe in a mysterious doll.  
And then I saw Yamino-san.  He was Pretty.  And he had a mysterious air that wasn't just because of the house.  And more than anything, he was determined.  It was a little scary, how eager he was to get me into the house.  You hear about weird perverts and stuff all the time--and inside the house wasn't any better.  I mean, he touched me, even if it was just my back and my shoulder, and there were lots of things that went way beyond mysterious and right into out-and-out weird.  
But somehow as soon as I walked into Loki-kun's study, before I even saw Loki-kun standing there by the window, I knew I was safe.  I don't know how I knew it, but it always feels like that in Loki-kun's study, no matter what's going on.  It's like the feeling when I go into the shrine at home, or when I went to that Christian church.  It's a sanctuary.  
And then Loki-kun gave me a welcome speech.  It's exactly the kind of speech I always thought a detective would give.  Only he was just a kid!  I've never heard of a kid being a detective before, even child prodigies.  Not a real detective with his own agency and stuff, and not when he wasn't even eleven years old yet.  I had to ask to be sure.  
"One's outer body and one's inner skill are not always related," he said to me.  
Boy, tell me about it!  I know all about inner skills not measuring up to your looks!  I look like I ought to be one of those old-fashioned dancers that you read about all the time, but if I go a whole day without tripping on air or getting into some other kind of trouble, I'm so sick in bed I can't move.  I didn't think that was quite what Loki-kun meant, though.  
He asked me what my name was, and I told him.  And then he gave me a funny look, like something was wrong with me.  I remember thinking that his eyes didn't belong to a little kid.  I got all nervous because of that, and I think that's what got me tossed out, 'cause I remember talking about the doll and rocking Loki-kun back and forth with my hand.  I guess it wasn't that polite.  
Thinking back on it, there was something kind of strange about how focused I was on that doll.  It went way beyond how much I usually get obsessed about mysteries.  I felt like I **had** to have that doll, and I didn't even care if Papa would be worried about me, or that I had homework to do, or even about going home to sleep.  I went straight back to the old clock tower and started searching around for the doll as if it were the only thing in the world that mattered.  
And of course while I was looking, I tripped.  I was getting discouraged and hungry and I was almost ready to cry.  But then I saw Loki-kun.  I was really confused when he helped me up and asked about the doll.  
Loki-kun has a kind heart.  I've noticed it since that time, too.  He's always reaching out to people because of his compassion.  At that time, though, I only wanted the doll.  So I told him how I found her in the clock tower, and about the cat, and stuff.  Only before I was really finished, Yamino-san dragged Loki-kun away!  It was kind of funny, actually, 'cause I don't think Loki-kun wanted to go, but Yamino-san is a really determined guy.  
I was annoyed by it then, though.  I swore to find the doll myself--and then I heard her by the tower!  I found her, and took her up into the tower...and then she turned all scary.  Her eyes were all full of hate and rage, and she wanted to **hurt** me!  I thought I was going to die, for sure!  
And then Loki-kun came, and I felt like I did in his study.  Safe.  Protected.  Like nothing could ever hurt me again.  I didn't even listen to what he said to the doll, I was so relieved he was there.  So it startled me when he grabbed my hand and put a bracelet on my wrist.  
The next thing I remember after that, I was standing across the room, holding the doll and staring at a painting I swear wasn't there before.  The girl in the painting looked a lot like me, and she was holding the doll in her lap.  
I realized that the doll had been lonely, and that Loki-kun had known it and fixed it somehow.  I did some reading later and I kind of suspect he did something so I'd be possessed by the girl from the painting.  I probably ought to be mad about that, but I trust Loki-kun wholeheartedly.  
I decided then, though, that I had to know more about Loki-kun.  He was a mystery bigger than any other mystery I'd ever even dreamed of, and he was right there practically in my lap, so to speak.  So I kind of forced my way into the Enjaku Detective Agency.  I was sure I'd be able to solve the mystery if I was always around Loki-kun!  
All I found out at first was that I got jealous when Loki-kun had a lot of girls hanging around him.  Like that time at the school festival, when Yamino-san and me went and saw Narugami-kun at the takoyaki booth, and then came back and found all the girls in school, practically, draped all over Loki-kun.  And he wasn't doing anything to stop them, either; I swear he was enjoying it, even!  Ooooh!  
...I still get mad when I think about it.  I didn't get that mad even when Koutaro-kun dissed me again and again, acting like I wasn't really a girl.  ...of course, Koutaro-kun's never quite forgiven me for turning him down three times and telling him he kisses like he's my brother, either.  But it's true, he does!  Not that I have a brother, but if I had one, that's what he'd kiss like.  Ew.  
I wonder what Loki-kun kisses like?  Or...um...what he'll kiss like in a few years when he's old enough to think about that stuff?  Um.  Anyway.  I shouldn't think like that, he's just a kid, really!  Even if he doesn't act like one or talk like one!  
So anyway.  I dragged Loki-kun off under the pretext of giving him a tour of the schools Seven Mysteries.  They were really boring mysteries--not really mysterious at all, I found out a long time ago.  It's not like this is Saito High or something!  But I tried to make them interesting....only Loki-kun shot down each one.  (Okay, I admit, the Cursed Volleyball was really reaching.  But that guy with the tire is a mystery, isn't he?  Or else in need of psychiatric evaluation!)  
Except for the last one.  
We were on our way to see it when he looked like he was getting all impatient with me.  I blurted out the real question I wanted answered--who was Loki-kun?  
His only answer was "I am me."  
Then he tried to leave, and I wasn't about to let that happen!  I hadn't figured out the mystery yet!  So I tried to get him to go and see the last mystery, the one that really **could** be a mystery.  We were discussing going to see it when there was a scream, and Loki-kun tackled me and knocked me down.  
The lockers fell apart, like something had **cut** them!  I should have felt scared, and I knew it even then...but Loki-kun was with me.  I was safe.  And so was my classmate on the other side of the lockers.  
It was selfish of me, but I was actually glad when she said the armor had attacked her.  Well, okay, I was worried about my classmates, 'cause that's a nasty legend, about a count who killed pretty women.  But it meant that Loki-kun wouldn't go home so soon!  
Except he did.  Only we met back at the school after dark to look around, so that was okay.  Until I got separated from Loki-kun.  I don't even know how it happened; I was talking, and I looked around, and Loki-kun was gone!  
It was scary then.  I don't like the dark.  I feel like there's things hiding in it, ready to eat me or something.  I even got freaked out by a stupid mannequin the Drama Club set up to scare off anybody trying to get into the prop room.  
The Drama Club is full of people that aren't mysterious, just in need of serious mental care.  
I kept on looking for Loki-kun, after I propped the mannequin back up.  It was really, really  scary, and I jumped at just about anything!  Even a flickering light.  And...the armor.  It was just standing there in the hall, not moving or anything!  
I got really stupid when I realized it wasn't moving.  I was really relieved...except I had my camera and I needed more pictures for the Mystery Club!  So I tried to make it move.  Which was really, really, really stupid.  'Cause it started moving just about when I heard Loki-kun calling my name.  
It would've killed me if not for Narugami-kun.  I was really grateful to him, even if I didn't feel all that much safer around him than around that armor.  I was just about ready to take his advice and go home, when Loki-kun came up.  I was happy to see him, especially 'cause he was worried about me.  
We went to the front of the school to talk, and I told Loki-kun and Yamino-san about what had happened.  Now that I was with Loki-kun, I felt safe enough again to think that Narugami-kun had been cool, which he was, after all.  And I found out that Yamino-san was scared of him...and that it was unusual for Yamino-san to be scared.  
When I pointed out that the armor was still a problem and might actually hurt somebody, Loki-kun agreed and said that he wanted my full cooperation.  He snapped his fingers at me...and the next thing I remember, I was on the roof, with the broken pieces of the armor in front of me.  I found myself reaching for the sword....and then there's another gap in my memory.  It was starting to be a habit!  
I woke up in my own bed, and Papa didn't even know I'd been gone--and believe me, if he had, I'd know about it!  Papa flips when I sneak out, every time.  But on the other hand, I found out I was suddenly somehow friends with Narugami-kun.  And I noticed he knew Loki-kun's eating habits--he gave Loki-kun about twenty-five okonomiyaki!  And Loki-kun ate them all, too!  I was impressed.  Not surprised, but impressed.  Narugami-kun's future wife will be very lucky he can cook so well.  He's got really bad luck with part-time jobs, though.  He burned himself at that one, but most of them blow up or close for some reason.  
Loki-kun was all depressed for a while after that.  I didn't know what to do.  We didn't have any cases for days and days, until finally Tsubasa-san came in.  The birds were doing something really weird at the zoo.  It was definitely a mystery.  
I could see that Loki-kun didn't feel like taking the case, so I hurried to do it for him.  The best thing for depression is to do something fun, and the zoo is always fun!  Loki-kun wasn't very happy with me for it, but he didn't say no, either.  I didn't let him.  
On Sunday, when we agreed to meet, I was late.  It took me forever to nag Papa into giving me a ride after breakfast--and he wouldn't let me go out on my own, for some reason!  I had to promise to buy Loki-kun ice cream before he forgave me.  
I think he forgave me, anyway.  Papa kind of interrupted at that point, accusing Loki-kun of telling me horror stories and making me weird!  Honestly!  As if I needed Loki-kun to tell me that stuff--it's what supermarket scandal papers are for.  
Loki-kun didn't like it when Papa told me never to come see him again.  I felt good for that, for some reason.  Papa's a little overprotective sometimes, and he keeps swearing there's no such thing as ghosts and demons and mysteries.  But I admit I was surprised when Loki-kun agreed with him.  
I'm sure there was something more going on, though, because despite Loki-kun's submissive tone, Papa got all scared, and I felt a strange chill.  I trusted Loki-kun to not hurt Papa, though, so to make it easier for him, I took Tsubasa-san inside to use the washroom.  
Papa was convinced when we came back, and Loki-kun was in a better mood.  That was a good thing, except that I got excited about it and really looked stupid at the zoo.  It's a fun place, but I dragged poor Tsubasa-san all over!  After I bought Loki-kun his ice cream, of course.  
Then I ran into Narugami-kun.  He had a new part-time job, wearing the anteater costume and handing balloons out to the kids.  It's silly to admit, but I'd always wondered what it was like to do that, so I kind of talked him into letting me try it for a few minutes.  
Anyway, after they made me give it back, which I didn't wanna 'cause I was having fun with a bunch of kids, Tsubasa-san took us to the birdcage.  I'd never been inside that place before, and it was really cool and really spooky at the same time.  It was so quiet, and the birds all stared at us!  Loki-kun thought there might be tremors or a smell or something, but Tsubasa-san very emphatically said the birds were angry.  I could tell that it bothered her to think that, but I didn't feel like the birds were angry at all.  More like scared.  
Tsubasa-san was scared, too.  She said she loved birds, but I think she might have been as scared of them as she loved them.  She was clearly pushing her own feelings onto the birds--animals raised in captivity are scared of being freed, not angry at staying inside.  Loki-kun tried to tell her that, but it didn't work.  
I don't think it helped when a hawk stooped at us.  (I looked that word up, 'stooped.'  It's the word that you're supposed to use to describe a bird coming down at you really fast, isn't that cool?)  It didn't even try to strike anybody, though, so it wasn't mad at us.  It just wanted our attention.  It landed on the walkway railing and stared at us.  
I've heard that you can get hypnotized by looking into a snake's eyes.  It was kind of like that when I looked at the hawk.  I got caught up in its gaze and I started moving closer.  Loki kun grabbed my arm and snapped me out of it before I got hurt, fortunately.  
We left not long after that.  I still felt kind of shaky even after I got home, like the time I went with Papa to a fair and got picked to be hypnotized by the magician.  Papa doesn't talk about that ever, and I don't remember it, so I know something strange happened.  Especially since that's when Papa started really getting strict about mysteries.  
I was okay by the time Tsubasa-san showed up in the evening, though.  Which makes what happened afterwards even more mysterious.  Tsubasa-san said she had to tell me something, so I took her up to my room, and...after that, I have a confused and blurry memory of a lot of hawks and feathers and being really scared.  And then I woke up at the zoo, in the birdcage, and I was soaking wet and barefoot.  
Papa was at Loki-kun's house when we got back there.  You could hear him all the way at the gate.  I decided to just go home and pretend I never left.  I told Loki-kun to pretend he didn't know anything and send Papa home--I know it was cowardly of me, but Papa was throwing things!  And I had the utmost faith that Loki-kun could deal with him.  
I did ask how I got to the zoo, 'cause I didn't remember.  I didn't really expect Loki-kun to answer me straight, and he didn't--he said I was troublesome.  I got a little upset at that and made a fool of myself again, going on about how it was a mystery so that Loki-kun couldn't blame me for it.  I don't think it worked.  
When I sneezed, though, Loki-kun gave me his coat.  I don't really think of Loki-kun as a kid, and I didn't even then.  I got kind of flustered and reminded myself that he **is** just a kid, and I kind of accidentally insulted him out loud.  He looked sad at that.  
I remember that his coat was warm, and it made me feel funny inside to wear it.  I ran off right away, before Loki-kun could notice how flustered I was--or before Papa came out of the house.  
There was a boy walking down the street.  I thought it was strange.  He was the same age as Loki-kun, and he knew Loki-kun.  He shouldn't've been out that late--and I felt cold again when he was around.  But he acted like he was Loki-kun's friend, so I tried to be friendly and introduced myself.  
He **kissed** me!  I was so startled that I dropped Loki-kun's coat.  Not only startled--afraid, even though Loki-kun was right there to protect me.  I felt like Kazumi-kun was laying some kind of claim to me, threatening to try and take me away from Loki-kun.  And no matter what kind of pretty words he used, I could tell that Loki-kun felt the same.  I haven't seen a look as furious on Loki-kun's face any other time but that...  
I felt like I needed to be near Loki-kun all the time for a while after that, even when I knew I was just getting in the way.  I was afraid something bad would happen if I wasn't with him--and maybe to him, not me!  But one time I stupidly tripped on air and twisted my ankle, and Papa flipped.  
It was kind of funny that he dragged Loki-kun and Yamino-san inside to lecture them, too, but when Papa gives a lecture, it lasts for**ever**!  And it's always the same, every time.  'Grow up and stop looking for mysteries.'  
As if!  
I begged Loki-kun to try and make Papa see reason.  I finally had to promise him a pizza to get him to agree!  Honestly, I bet a thief could even get Loki-kun to let him go by promising him junk food.  So I went to order the cheapest pizza I could while Loki-kun scarified Papa.  Since it was so very cheap, though, I could afford to buy ice cream, too.  I asked Papa if he wanted some, and for some reason that made him faint.  
It also made him real mad, and he flatly forbid me to go near Loki-kun again.  I got so upset I tried to get up and chase him, and totally forgot about my ankle.  Which got my allowance taken away too, 'cause I accidentally tripped Papa, too.  And I must've hit my head when I fell, 'cause I blacked out and had a weird dream about being a little kid--only Loki-kun and Yamino-san were in it.  But all kinds of weird stuff happens in dreams, so.  I read somewhere that you can even share your dreams with people you're close to.  
Loki-kun still expected his pizza, after Papa and me woke up, even though he didn't even **do** anything.  He wanted me to order a new one just 'cause Narugami-kun crashed into the lantern, can you imagine that!?  
It was maybe a couple of weeks later when Kaitou-san first came into our lives.  Even then I thought he must have read too much shoujo manga.  A phantom thief with notices and stuff?  Real-life thieves are mean and nasty people that don't care who gets hurt as long as they get to steal the stuff they want.  But I thought it would be neat to meet somebody who could actually be a phantom thief even for only a short time.  Besides, Loki-kun was bored, even if he didn't realize it.  And broody.  Bored and broody is a bad combination for Loki-kun.  
I finally had to go by myself to get him to get involved, it was so annoying!  Really, he should just listen to me and come have fun, it would be best for him.  And I was right, too, Kaitou-san is really a nice person, and fun, too!  A little stalker-ish, but not so bad it's scary or anything.  He gets embarrassed too easily to do anything really perverted.  
Inspector Niyama said he didn't understand what was going on in Kaitou-san's mind, and I admit I don't really, either, except that I did realize the stuff he stole spells Loki-kun's name, if you use English letters.  It was weird that he gave out an advance notice in a pack of tissues, though!  
I let Loki-kun explain to me about the English letters, even though I already guessed it, 'cause it got him all interested, and that was good.  I went to so much trouble, after all!  Besides, it gave me a chance to ask why somebody would pretend to be a phantom thief just to send him a message.  
He couldn't answer that right away, I noticed.  In fact, it was Yamino-san who said it was because Loki-kun is a detective.  I didn't buy it then and I don't buy it now.  But I pretended I did 'cause it was easier at the time.  
Koutaro-kun was at the museum.  I felt like seeing if I could make Loki-kun jealous, after he made me go to so much trouble to get him involved, so I pretended not to know about Koutaro-kun's family and fangirled at him.  
We talked about that a lot later.  (Mostly 'cause he decided to give his luck another try and I had to slap him.)  But it got Loki-kun's attention.  And it was funny to watch him and Koutaro-kun posture at each other.  I felt all nice and wanted that night, with three guys acting like that.  And the Brising necklace was really beautiful to see, too.  It had a special aura around it, like someone really loved it.  
Um.  It's kind of silly, but Loki-kun kept staring at it, and I got jealous.  Of a necklace.  I still can't believe it.  So I changed my clothes into a police costume from a lingerie store Koutaro-kun's father owns...it really did get Loki-kun's attention, and I kind of liked it.  Koutaro-kun pinched my butt three times, though.  I finally had to go up on the roof to avoid him.  
I heard voices after a while, and I went running over to see--Kaitou-san was using that cute flying pig he has to attack Loki-kun!  I started shouting something--anything to give Loki-kun a distraction he could use.  Which he did--he ducked, and Kaitou-san got hit by his own pig.  
Loki-kun tried to rescue the necklace.  It got stolen by a hawk, and I swear it was that one with the hypnotic eyes.  Loki-kun called it by some name I can't pronounce--Hey-mu-something-or-other, but I was a little busy getting from the roof I was on to the one Loki-kun was on without going all the way inside and back.  I was worried, okay!?  Enough that I didn't feel a lot of pity when Kaitou-san fell into the trees again.  
I forgave him in the long run, though, 'cause he's even clumsier than I am.  Besides, he's really a sweet guy, and I don't know why he wanted to hurt Loki-kun but it must've been something important, 'cause I don't think he likes violent acts much.  
The next person who came into our lives was Reiya-chan.  I thought she was so cute when we first met!  Everybody thinks that about Reiya-chan.  I don't think there's anybody in the whole world who can help adoring her.  Of course, that doesn't make me feel less jealous when Loki-kun pays more attention to her than me, but...  
He's always acting weird around Reiya-chan, actually.  The first time she came to the agency, it was like he couldn't stop staring at her, and he kept spacing out.  But I didn't even have to prompt him to take the case, even when I thought for sure he'd say no.  It was weird!  And that hotel....no wonder Reiya-chan was scared, it was creepy.  Mino-san said she was a little crazy, and I thought that if that was true, he should never have brought her to a place like that!  
Loki-kun decided to stay the night at the hotel with Reiya-chan.  Well, I don't care if they **are** just kids, I wasn't gonna just leave after that!  No way!  I know for sure that Loki-kun wanted to send me home, but I just refused to listen.  He couldn't **make** me go, after all!  And besides, it cheered Reiya-chan up.  
It was stupid, though.  I fell asleep in a chair!  I think Loki-kun tucked a blanket around me--at least, I always hoped it was.  It could've been Mino-san just as easy.  It was really weird, though, and creepy.  I dreamed that I was awake and sitting in the hotel, but I couldn't move or open my eyes, even when I heard Reiya-chan screaming.  And I know she did for real, too, 'cause Loki-kun told me all about it at breakfast.  And he even scolded me for falling asleep--how fair is that!?  
And that Reiya-chan came in and got all cuddly and called Loki-sama her prince.  Oooooh!  Worse, Loki-kun liked it!  I couldn't stand it for long.  I thought up an excuse to leave--I said I was gonna go undercover and disguise myself as an employee.  I thought if I did that, I might find something useful, and then Loki-kun would pay attention to **me** again.  
I was excited at first.  I thought for sure it would work!  I guess you could say it did, 'cause I found out that the hotel was **really** creepy--it was haunted!  All the employees were poltergeists, or something!  And they tried to kill me after I followed them into a weird empty room and found out.  
I never told Loki-kun how close it really was that time.  My head started spinning and I felt dizzy and nauseous.  I felt like I couldn't move, like something was trying to take over my body, and all I could think of was that Loki-kun wasn't there.  I started feeling like I was blacking out.  
I think it was terror that saved my life.  I don't remember leaving the room, don't even remember anything else until the dining room, and seeing Loki-kun fighting those...things.  I was still so scared, and they were chasing me--I think I remember screaming, and I might've cried.  I know I tripped.  
All of a sudden, the ghosts all went away, and me and Loki-kun and Reiya-chan all started sinking into the floor!  That's when I knew that the whole **hotel** was an evil, evil thing, and it was trying to consume all of us.  And succeeding.  I sank into the floor, and my head started spinning again, and everything went dark.  
I vaguely remember waking up and hearing Loki-kun call for somebody named 'Fureia,' and then he ran off with Narugami-kun.  I know I tried to go after them, I didn't want to be away from Loki-kun, but my head was still spinning and I still felt sick.  I think I tripped.  
The next day, I went to try and talk to Loki-kun about all that stuff, and about the red light I remembered seeing in the sky, only Yamino-kun diverted me.  I know it's a lie when Yamino-kun tells me instead of Loki-kun.  Especially since I read about the light in the paper and it didn't say anything about any movie filming!  I think maybe Loki-kun doesn't like to lie to me, 'cause he can lie really easy to come people.  (Especially if it's to get free food.)  
I guess I'm a bad woman at heart, 'cause after that, I wanted to cause Loki-kun some trouble.  Oh, not a lot.  But I was so mad that he couldn't even look me in the face and tell his own lies--!  It was a feeling like prickly thorns in my skin, and I wanted him to feel the same in return.  
That was what was in my heart when I went to visit him a couple of days later.  I almost got distracted from it, though, 'cause when I walked in, he was acting like he was stretching something.  I got that weird feeling like there's something there watching you that you can't see, too, and I think that whatever it was Loki-kun was playing with it.  I didn't let on about that though, and called it dancing.  It was really funny to see the look on Loki-kun's face when I mimicked him!  
I got an easy chance to make trouble, too.  Loki-kun doesn't like it when he hears somebody else being praised when he's being ignored, so that's what I did.  And I even said that Yamino-san would be better off without Loki-kun, wasn't that mean of me?  
Loki-kun pretended to agree with me when I suggested changing the name to Yamino Detective Agency, but I could see my plan was working.  He didn't like hearing what I was saying, and he made an excuse to go for a walk.  
I'm ashamed that I felt pleased he was so irritated.  Only it backfired, 'cause Loki-kun went out and got himself kidnapped!  And he got his revenge on me by making me and Yamino-san come find him.  I'm sure he could have gotten out on his own easily--yeah, and gotten the stolen money back, too!  It's something Loki-kun is good at.  
I still have my suspicions about that toy, too.  Loki-kun's the only person I know of who not only doesn't use a computer, he doesn't even use a typewriter for his official documents and correspondence!  (He writes with an old-fashioned Western quill pen, in fact.  It's pretty, but he's lucky his handwriting is legible!)  What would he be doing with a technotoy that looked like him (but ugly!) and recorded his voice?  Besides, it didn't leave any shrapnel when it blew up, and Yamino-san sat there talking to somebody.  It's a very different sound than when somebody talks to themselves, you know.  
In fact I know Loki-kun did it as revenge, 'cause he gave his location in a code.  He talked about 'Hati' and 'Skoll' and some spring with a weird European name that sounds like 'fueru wakame.'  Yamino-san kept trying to correct my pronunciation about that, but I just **still** can't even get it!  It was all this Norse stuff about the sun and the moon and...ick, snakes!  
I don't like snakes.  They're scary, and creepy, and the only thing mysterious about them is how anybody can like them as pets.  
Anyway, I was curious even then about how Yamino-san knew so much about Norse mythology, but I thought maybe it was 'cause Loki-kun was interested in it, which would make sense since they live together.  And Yamino-san kind of admitted they're related somehow, too--something like cousins, he said, and that's why he works for Loki-kun.  
It was Papa who gave us our first clue in finding Loki-kun, though.  Well, technically our second, 'cause Loki-kun gave that stupid code first.  Anyway, it was a trademark from a conbini chain, where the sun and the moon were interchanged.  It was fun when we found that out--we stole Papa's scooter and went off joyriding on it!  I didn't know Yamino-san could drive one, but Yamino-san can do anything, I swear.  
We went to a bunch of those stores until we figured out the second part of the code.  At every one of them, I bought seaweed.  I didn't tell Yamino-san, but I was gonna make Loki-kun eat each and every package for that stupid code.  (I think he still has about three packages to go.  I can't let Yamino-san catch me at it, or he'll take them away, I'm sure of it!)  
And finally we figured out Loki-kun was at a pet store that specialized in snakes.  Ew!  I thought I was gonna die of being creeped out!  Yamino-san made me go in and pretend to be a customer.  And that jerk clerk inside--I know he could tell I was scared, and he was enjoying it!  I was soooo glad when the police arrested him, just for that.  
Loki-kun was definitely okay, too, and I think he and Yamino-san must've done something mysterious to that other guy.  I heard from Inspector Niyama that he was still wetting his pants when they asked him about Loki-kun even a year later.  Since it was scary and mysterious, I'm not that sorry I missed it.  
I couldn't resist taunting Loki-kun a little more at dinner, but I don't think it bothered him as much as it did Yamino-san.  Loki-kun, after all, was too busy eating like he hadn't seen food in a week.  In fact I'm not even sure he really heard me.  
He heard me about the seaweed, though, when Yamino-san was doing dishes.  We spent a while talking about that.  It was fun!  Did you know that Loki-kun doesn't like the taste of seaweed?  I mean, really, really, **really** doesn't like the taste of seaweed?  He makes all kinds of funny faces when I make him eat it.  
So things were quiet for a while, until it got near midterms.  I really have a hard time in school--it's not that I can't do stuff, it's just so boring!  If I can make myself stay awake and stuff, I can get good grades, but that's the part that's so hard--staying awake and stuff!  I was pretty upset when Sensei said the people with the lowest grades on the midterms would have to take extra study sessions for a whole month--isn't torture supposed to be illegal in Japan!?  
Narugami-kun apparently didn't like it, either.  Though I kind of think that maybe he stood up in class just so I wouldn't be the only one embarrassed.  He's nice like that sometimes.  Like one time when one of our classmates was being teased 'cause she bleached her hair and it came out all uneven, he spoke up and said that a boy who marries a girl with gold hair is always rich.  I thought that was really sweet of him.  He's not usually that poetic about it, though, which is probably why I remember it.  
Anyway, about the test thing, we were talking later, and I was moaning about not being able to see Loki-kun, and then I felt kind of bad that I snapped at him after he was talking about starving if he didn't have time enough to earn money and support himself.  He goes over to Loki-kun's to eat a lot, though, so I know he wouldn't starve for real.  He'd just have to listen to Loki-kun snark at him all the time.  
Koutaro-kun was a fink, too.  He deliberately dropped his paper so he could brag about having a perfect score on it!  Narugami-kun didn't like it any better than me, even though he wasn't really the target.  
Koutaro-kun and me have a really interesting relationship.  
Anyway, Narugami-kun and me got back at him by saying he'd grow up and be anti-social--and given how much Koutaro-kun likes parties and dates and stuff, I know it hit home.  But he called us slackers!  And we couldn't even say anything back about it, 'cause it's kinda sorta true...  
We took over Loki-kun's study after school.  I think we had the same idea--if we had to suffer, so should Loki-kun who doesn't even **go** to school.  Besides, Yamino-san makes the best study snacks!  
I really, really, really tried to study, too!  I wrote things down over and over, and read the stupid boring books repeatedly...and I still didn't get anything out of it.  I don't think Narugami-kun did, either.  So when he suggested we take a break and play Jenga, it kind of went on a lot longer than either of us intended.  
On the thirteenth game in a row, Loki-kun and Yamino-san came in to check on us.  It was Narugami-kun's turn, and Loki-kun wrecked it for him.  I didn't know Narugami-kun was so sensitive around his ears--not that it matters to me, **I'm** not ever gonna wanna blow in them.  But it was funny to see him spazz at Loki-kun for it.  
Except that Loki-kun got annoyed at both of us then.  I tried to explain, but I don't think he understands just how hard it is for me to focus on boring stuff!  And he didn't take the hint that he'd miss me, and I know he would, 'cause he likes me and I get him to do fun stuff.  And I buy him ice cream and pizzas!  Okay, so maybe I went a little far in suggesting he'd cry, but he didn't have to be **so** unimpressed!  
I got so upset and nervous about the test, I was even ready to cheat.  It's a good thing Narugami-kun reminded me that it was a bad idea, or I might even have done it.  I was so desperate that when that big weird tree showed up overnight in Midorigau Park, claiming a god lived in it, I tried pure superstition and luck!  I didn't really think a leaf would grant wishes, but it was worth trying, I thought.  
I kind of went a little overboard on that whole idea, I think.  I got earrings that the lady at the store told me would receive divine messages, and a ring that was supposed to be from Egypt, and a pendant that was supposed to be from Atlantis...  
I really should've known better about that one.  You can't buy ancient artifacts from Atlantis for fifteen hundred yen at a discount store; it turned green in three days, and the chain broke.  
Anyway, I got a bunch of stuff that was supposed to be lucky, but I admit the Santa-san dress wasn't one of them, no matter what I told Loki-kun.  It was all for him!  And he was impressed, I saw it.  At least he was before I started going on about the other stuff.  I looked stupid then.  
So I showed him the leaf.  Well, once I got it out.  Santa-san's dress doesn't have pockets, so I had to roll it up and put it in my bra, and then it slid under my breast.  It took a bit to get out, 'cause I didn't wanna tear it!  What if that broke the luck?  
Loki-kun got really upset about the leaf.  It scared me a bit, so when he said to drop it, I did.  I mean, if Loki-kun doesn't like something, it's usually dangerous.  Loki-kun protects me from stuff like that.  
He got out that weird sickle staff thingy he's got and hit it, and the leaf burnt up!  I wish I knew where he kept it, and how he got it out of there, 'cause it's too big to fit in his pocket or anything.  Right then, though, I was busy being upset that he burned up my leaf, my one chance at acing the midterm!  And he forbade me to go back to the park until he said so again.  
That's kind of tough, since I walk by there every day on my way to school.  And I suspected Loki-kun was gonna go there after everybody left, at night.  Since I didn't actually **agree** not to go back to the park, no matter what Loki-kun said, I decided to sneak out and see if I could learn anything important about Loki-kun there.  
I was too late.  Loki-kun wasn't there, and neither was the tree.  But there was this red glowing marble that I felt like I couldn't leave behind.  It rolled right up to my feet and stopped, and I felt all funny and hollow as I picked it up, like I was just a shell for something else.  
And I failed my test, too!  I blamed Loki-kun; everybody who had a leaf passed the test.  Even if it was a little dangerous, couldn't he have let me keep it until after the test?  He wasn't impressed, though.  He was distracted, in fact.  He told me to go home and study after I finished my tea!  Isn't it rude to leave a guest and go someplace without her?  
At least I can tell my lies to somebody's face, though, unlike Loki-kun.  I didn't tell him I went back to the park.  I knew he'd be mad at me if I did.  I wondered, though, if there really had been a god in the tree.  I don't believe in gods, usually, but it was kind of mysterious for that tree to appear, grant wishes, and then vanish.  
Loki-kun said, though, that if there had been a god in the tree, it wouldn't have granted wishes.  He said it would have been too busy.  I didn't understand it, but I guessed it must have been something else in the tree, then.  Not a god, but maybe something like a youkai.  Maybe a shape-shifted fox-spirit, or a tanuki--tanuki give out leaves a lot, according to legends.  
That marble was something really bad, though.  Not a tanuki, or a fox-spirit.  It attracted all the leaves in town, I swear, and it really hurt when they were all flying around me and cutting me!  And that dizzy, hollow feeling came back, and I collapsed.  
When I woke up, I was all tangled up in vines, like something out of tentacle H!  I didn't know what was going on, and I was scared, and I know I started screaming about it.  And apparently that helped Loki-kun who I didn't even know was there defeat the evil tree, which meant I got tossed up into the sky.  
Thankfully, Yamino-san caught me when I fell.  And then Loki-kun took me away from him, and I felt funny again.  But not in the scary way, more like how it felt when I wore Loki-kun's coat.  I didn't know what to say or anything.  Even when he whacked me on the head and scolded me for lying to him.  
I'm gonna talk to him about that someday.  About lying to people, and about making other people do your lying for you.  It's gonna be even more interesting than the discussion about the seaweed.  
Anyway, then he told me that gods won't grant peoples' wishes.  But I think I got mine, 'cause I **know** I fell asleep at the midterm, but I got really high grades!  I don't remember any one of the questions.  It kind of made me wonder, all over again, just who Loki-kun is, that he can look like a little kid, but act like an adult and do all kinds of strange and mysterious stuff.  
And I gotta wonder about Yamino-san, too.  Is he really even more gullible than me??  I mean, he bought a weather vane beanie!  And he not only carried it around, he actually **wore** it!  I don't know how he expected to find my purse with that thing.  I mean, it was an ordinary purse, not mysterious at all, and I've never heard that weather vanes are good for much beyond pointing the wind direction.  
Twenty-five hundred yen flew away when the wind started spinning the thing and turned it into a propeller.  I was surprised.  I thought that was only a cartoon gag.  But it was kind of breezy that day, and it was a cheap polyester thing with a plastic weather vane.  I guess it was light enough to fly off.  Hope whoever found it likes it.  
Anyway, it turned out that Reiya-chan had found my purse, I was so glad!  How's a girl supposed to get by without her allowance?  I was so grateful I insisted on paying for a treat at a Kacky's.  They're not too bad, for a big-name chain coffeehouse.  
Only they were full!  How fair is that?  It must've been because of the wind and the chill, 'cause Kacky's never gets that full otherwise.  
Good thing the Twilight Coffee Shop was right across the street!  And it was a surprise to see Narugami-kun working there.  But the biggest surprise of all was how delicious Master's coffee was!  It was kind of a long wait for it, but it was really worth it.  It had a really nice nutty flavor, without being all bitter and eat-your-spoon strong--so good it didn't even need milk or sugar!  And it was so neat, Master served each cup of coffee in a totally unique cup--I don't think he had two of the same kind in the whole shop.  
It was Loki-kun who asked what I think we were all thinking, though.  Maybe it was a little insensitive, but...with coffee that good, why were we the only customers?  Well, it turned out that there was something weird living in the shop (or whatever, if living's not quite the right word!), and it was scaring away everybody who came in, even to work there.  
Master said he might have to close the shop.  I was horrified!  It was such a cool place, with such delicious coffee, the best in the whole world!  How could he close!?  I proposed we make Master's shop popular--and Loki-kun accused me of only wanting to see the mystery!  Hah!  I knew I wouldn't see it, anyway.  I never do, it sucks.  
After that kind of remark, there was no way I was gonna let Loki-kun get out of helping, either.  And Reiya-chan agreed with me, so Loki-kun was stuck **real** good.  So she and I became waitresses, and Yamino-kun helped behind the counter and gave cooking tips, 'cause Yamino-kun can't help himself on that, and Loki-kun flirted with girls to get them to come inside.  I got a little jealous sometimes, but it was my idea, so I couldn't complain too much.  
A couple of days later, Koutaro-kun came in.  He stood in the doorway staring at my legs long enough to concern me, too.  Really, the skirt was no shorter than on my school uniform!  I bet that was why he volunteered to stay and help, even though Kacky's is his father's shop.  
Well, that and competing with Loki-kun.  It's funny to watch those two sometimes.  They're so much alike, and they hate to admit it!  Loki-kun got all sulky when the girls he was flirting with started flirting with Koutaro-kun, instead.  
It was really great that Koutaro-kun helped out, though--within another couple of days, we had long lines waiting to come inside!  Loki-kun and me would go out periodically and hand out candy as a thank-you to the customers, and by then we really needed more people to serve--I was exhausted by midmorning!  It didn't help any that Loki-kun could hide behind the counter and take a break, and that Narugami-kun kept running off to do dishes or clean the bathroom.  That left Reiya-chan and me to do most of the work--and Master, of course!  But I'm the one who got pinched the most.  It hurt to sit down for a week!  And I know that half of them came from Koutaro-kun, and if I'd caught him at it I woulda thrown him out of the shop.  
And then everything went sour on us.  Master handed me this cup that had a strange design that made it look like it had eyes, and stuff started spontaneously breaking!  I felt like the cup was doing it, somehow, like it was awake or something, and I took off running.  It was kind of stupid not to put the cup down first, I guess.  
Lights broke as I ran past them, and then the grandfather clock fell over, and the ceiling fan came down almost on top of me!  And I got really cold all of a sudden, like that time when I was nine and the pervert came to the temple and was looking at me like I was gonna be his next victim.  (He got arrested after Papa called the police and told them he was bothering me, and I found out from the newspaper that that guy had kidnapped a bunch of kids my age and done horrible things to them, then killed them.)  I didn't think I was gonna get hurt, though, 'cause Loki-kun was there.  
The customers all left, though.  Koutaro-kun wanted to drag me out of the shop, too.  He stayed when I wouldn't go, but I could tell he wasn't happy about it.  We had lunch a couple days later and discussed it at length.  He called me a moron, and I called him an overbearing control freak, and he accused me of being suicidal, and I accused him of wanting in my skirt, and he admitted it and kissed me, and I slapped him and told him I'd rather kiss Papa than him, and everything was back to normal.  
Koutaro-kun is an awful flirt, but a good friend.  Not good enough to join the Mystery Club when I needed another member, though!  That was left to Kaitou-san.  
Kaitou-san has a kind heart, like Loki-kun.  I forgave him a long time ago for trying to hurt Loki-kun, even.  It's kind of embarrassing how he keeps going around and calling me Yamato Nadeshiko, though.  I'm a klutz, I'm always in the middle of stuff I shouldn't be, and I lose my temper too often to be something like that.  
I've got to admit, it was the sweetest thing anybody's ever done for me when he tried to help me save the Mystery Club.  My class president, Wada-san, told me she was gonna cancel the club, which would mean I'd have to go join another club, and then I wouldn't be able to go to Loki-kun's house after school!  I didn't really care about the room or the funding, but I'm not interested in any of the other clubs, so it's no fair that they say you have to be in one!  
Worse, none of my friends would help me out!  Narugami-kun at least I could understand, 'cause he has all those part-time jobs, but Koutaro-kun was just plain mean, since I happen to know that he goes to a different club every week.  I think he was still a little mad about being slapped, even though I do it a lot.  I wouldn't if he'd keep his hands and his lips to himself, though.  And Loki-kun!  Maybe I shouldn't've told him he was last on my list.  But I didn't think he could really help that much, since he's not in my school or anything.  He didn't have to act like he wanted me to go away, though!  
Kaitou-san, though...he actually transferred into my school just to help me save the club!  I always thought he was a little old for high school, before that.  He doesn't act like he's my age; he acts more like he's just out of high school, instead.  He did look pretty good in our school uniform, though.  
Not as good as I bet Loki-kun would, if he were old enough, though.  Ahhhh, being the older woman is a curse in a case like this!  
Wada-san got an instant crush.  I could tell.  I mean, aside from taking her position too seriously, she's usually pretty polite, but she got all upset when Kaitou-san ignored her, and vengeful when Kaitou-san made a scene and accused her of being a cruel person.  
Kaitou-san isn't always that smart about how to handle people, I've noticed.  And boys are really strange sometimes.  Like when the girls were watching soccer practice in gym class, Narugami-kun and Kaitou-san got all competitive.  I don't even know why, but it was so stupid!  They ran right into the goal posts!  
I would have sworn a holy oath at that moment that I didn't know either one of them, had never known them, and didn't want to know them.  How embarrassing!  I went and found Koutaro-kun, who's never **that** stupid.  
He was admiring himself again, though.  Basking in the glow of having the best grades in school.  I was annoyed enough with boys in general to give him an opportunity to embarrass himself.  I pretended it was supercool, and told him I was actually starting to respect him.  
Koutaro-kun makes all kinds of funny poses when he's preening, it's hilarious.  But then Kaitou-san showed up and actually **kicked** Koutaro-kun.  And before I could puncture his ego again, too!  Kaitou-san was going to start a fistfight with Koutaro-kun, right on the premises, even.  Fortunately, Koutaro-kun was quick-witted enough to snatch up a bucket as a shield, and Kaitou-san accidentally knocked himself out.  
Koutaro-kun glared at me like it was all my fault.  I kind of felt like it was, sorta, since Kaitou-san had come to our school just to help me out.  I couldn't disagree when he said Kaitou-san was a weird guy, though.  Especially when Kaitou-san accused Koutaro-kun of running in fear when Koutaro-kun ran off to flirt with girls who'd actually let him get away with something.  
I tried to get Kaitou-san to call me by name when I was patching him up in the Mystery Club room.  He got all red and embarrassed, it was actually kinda cute.  In a lame way.  Unfortunately, he was still blushing when Wada-san came in, and I know she took it wrong.  
That was where the vengeful part came in.  She said I should have been able to find a mystery by now, if I was serious about it, and that I had until Sunday to show her one!  Really, I had a lot of mysteries, but it's not my fault if she can't believe in any of them!  It's not a mystery anymore if you solve it, anyway.  
Kaitou-san promised to find a mystery for me.  I thought that there was only one mystery that Wada-san really wanted, and I was talking to him.  But he was trying so hard to cheer me up, how could I tell him I was already taken, even if Loki-kun doesn't know it yet?  
On Saturday, we three went to a cave.  Caves are always mysteries, just by being caves.  But that's not the kind of thing Wada-san would have understood, so I was a little worried still.  Kaitou-san said to trust him, though, and I thought I would give it a try.  
He started telling ghost stories while we were walking.  I admit, I started getting a little scared from them, but then, I always get scared from ghost stories.  Wada-san wasn't impressed though.  And when Kaitou-san said she wasn't cute....that was scarier than any ghost story.  I thought she was gonna kill him when he turned his back.  
She scared off Kaitou-san's cute little pig!  The makeup wasn't all that convincing, but that was still mean of her.  
The TV ghost was more scary, at least to me.  But only because it was Kazumi-kun.  And he was enjoying himself too much, trying to scare us.  Kazumi-kun is just plain creepy without needing help for it.  I was impressed that Wada-san had the courage to kick him that way.  
I felt bad for her.  Kaitou-san's mysteries weren't terribly convincing, but his crush on me was.  That's why I decided not to fight her on it anymore.  Only Kaitou-san decided that I couldn't do that, and he ran off and left us in the dark.  
I wanted to cry.  I would've cried, if Wada-san hadn't been there.  She took pity on me and dragged me out of the cave.  Exasperated pity, but still pity.  Kaitou-san was just outside the entrance, and he looked kind of nervous--which he should, for leaving two girls alone in the dark that way!  
Then there was a tremor.  Or I thought it was a tremor, until Wada-san started freaking out and pointing.  There was a giant Buddha statue heading our way!  I think it broke Wada-san's brain permanently, 'cause she's been a little kooky ever since.  
Anyway, Wada-san got knocked out, and then Kaitou-san produced this flying boat with all kinds of guns and stuff out of nowhere.  It was really cool!  And somehow it didn't surprise me, coming as it did from a guy who rides a flying pig.  
Kaitou-san probably doesn't deal with people all that intelligently because he isn't one.  What kind of normal person, or even abnormal person, could make a pig or a boat fly, after all?  I don't worry about where stuff comes from when it's Kaitou-san.  
Anyway, Kaitou-san said he didn't have any death beams onboard, which I think was a mistake, 'cause the statue did.  And it had a big missile punch, too, that wrecked the ship.  Kaitou-san picked me up and told me to hold on tight.  I thought that was probably a real good idea right about then, 'cause at least that way I'd be a little bit protected.  
I got dazed by the landing.  I probably blacked out.  I know Kaitou-san did.  I landed on top of him, after all!  I do remember hearing Loki-kun's voice, though, and knowing it was all right now.  I was kind of flattered, too; did Loki-kun follow me all that time 'cause he thought I was on a date with Kaitou-san?  I do hope so!  
Kaitou-san scared me half to death, though.  He woke up and all of a sudden grabbed me and said he loved me and he'd never let me go!  Kyah!  I know most girls want to hear that at least once from a guy, but I didn't want to hear it from Kaitou-san, only Loki-kun!  (Not that I probably ever will, but a girl's got to keep dreaming!)  
But it turned out that Kaitou-san was hallucinating, or maybe still really asleep.  He thought I was somebody else--that 'Fureia' person.  I was sorry for him then.  He must love her a lot, to be searching so hard for her.  He was really confused when I told him he should keep searching for her instead of trying to help me out of a mess that was my own fault.  
Well, that actually kind of turned out okay, too, actually.  'Cause Wada-san's brain broke, and never got fixed all the way.  She goes more nuts over mysteries than I do anymore.  I don't think she's gonna stay student council president for much longer.  
Koutaro-kun forgave me almost as soon as Kaitou-san withdrew from classes.  (If he withdrew for classes, he may have just stopped coming.)  So he invited me to come to the arcade with him.  I've known it was his arcade since we first met, seeing as how that's where and all.  
I talked to Reiya-chan, and we dragged Loki-kun and Yamino-san along with us, 'cause I felt like I hadn't been around Loki-kun almost at all for a while, and I missed him.  He was surprisingly good at Living Dead Hunter and wiped my name off the scoreboard entirely.  He even beat out Koutaro-kun, who's practiced on it since it first came out.  I think we were both a little insulted that Loki-kun was so totally bored by winning the top level.  
Reiya-chan scored a huge duck at the crane game.  (Koutaro-kun told me later he didn't think there had **been** a toy that size in the game!)  Loki-kun was gonna leave with her then, just like they were on a date or something.  Fortunately, Koutaro-kun was insulted enough by Loki-kun's attitude that he decided to share The Secret!  I hadn't known it was ready so soon, so I wasn't gonna let Loki-kun get out of it, since he was my key.  
I could barely keep from laughing when Koutaro-kun started going on about all the stuff in the display.  Even if I was gullible enough to believe anybody'd be stupid enough to put real artifacts in an arcade display, I distinctly remembered helping Koutaro-kun picking the stuff out of a Halloween catalogue.  I don't think Loki-kun or Yamino-san were impressed, either.  "Made in China" on the back of a dagger found in Romania?  Koutaro-kun really slipped up on that one.  If you're going to do that kind of patter, you shouldn't let the customer see the product.  He told me that years ago, sometimes I think he needs to learn to listen to himself.  
But the game...**that** was worth the silly patter.  Koutaro-kun doesn't look like it, but he's a really big game freak, and always has been.  Me, too, of course!  We both like the fantasy games, and a virtual reality game is a total dream for us!  Because of that, I was actually relieved rather than jealous when Reiya-chan dragged Loki-kun back out into the arcade proper.  
Koutaro-kun made a big concession and let me go first.  I think he was trying to impress Loki-kun about his manners.  (I don't think Loki-kun was impressed, though.)  So Loki-kun and Reiya-chan and Yamino-san all went back to the regular games, leaving me alone with Koutaro-kun.  
We made an agreement back the first time Koutaro-kun asked me out.  The arcade is totally off-limits for flirting.  Koutaro-kun almost forgot that, but fortunately he couldn't get the game to work and had to go get the manual.  
Someday Koutaro-kun is going to meet a girl he can really fall in love with, and then he's going to be glad I wouldn't let him pull any junk on me.  'Cause I know he's not in love with me.  If he were, he wouldn't have made out with three other girls in the same week.  Dated, maybe.  But not gone **that** far.  Only until he meets that girl, I'm probably gonna have to keep on slapping him on a regular basis.  
Anyway, I put the goggles on, and the game switched on by itself.  I thought Koutaro-kun had gotten it working...but it was so incredibly real!  I didn't feel like I had the goggles on anymore, and the gun wasn't attached to the game.  
I won the first two levels--it was a little freaky to have to shoot Papa, especially since he really acted like Papa, but Koutaro-kun was easy to beat; I just flashed him and he sat there and drooled and let me kill him--but on the third level, I had to fight Loki-kun!  How's a girl supposed to fight the guy she wants to marry, even in a video game?  
Koutaro-kun sold the game before it ever went public.  It freaked us both out, having the game pick stuff out of our minds, and it made both of us pass out.  I guess you can have a game that's a little **too** real sometimes.  
Loki-kun laughed when I said that to him later.  I don't know why.  Loki-kun has too many secrets.  Like his basement!  Yamino-san panics if I try to go down there.  I wonder what's down there, and why they're hiding it?  
Anyway, Yamino-san took a tumble one time, so I made him come out with me to Koutaro-kun's cake store.  I get a discount there, 'cause I'm Koutaro-kun's friend, and their cake is almost as good as Yamino-san's.  And we ran into Koutaro-kun there, even, so I got them for really **really** cheap!  Enough to take one to Loki-kun, even.  
They say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach.  If so, I ought to own Loki-kun's heart by now.  
But then on my way out, I ran into Him.  He was the most incredibly gorgeous guy I've ever seen!  Just like I always imagined Loki-kun would look if he were older...  My heart started pounding, and I know I was blushing and staring.  So I kind of noticed he was acting a little nervous.  
I think Yamino-san knew him, too.  I wasn't paying much attention to him or Koutaro-kun, though.  Instead I started daydreaming about Him being Loki-kun and getting married and...  
...and Koutaro-kun interrupted it.  I think he was jealous that it wasn't him I was daydreaming about.  But when my brain started working properly again, I thought about how it felt the same to be around Him as it did Loki-kun...and I really started to wonder...  
But Loki-kun is years younger than me!  It's the great tragedy of my life!  He couldn't suddenly turn older like that...could he?  
I was on my way back to Loki-kun's house when Yamino-san started running.  So of course I ran, too, 'cause I thought something was wrong.  And I saw Kazumi-kun and Kaitou-san, too, and we all stopped at Loki-kun's gate.  I didn't get it.  It was just Loki-kun standing in the yard.  
Anyway, after dinner (and Kazumi-kun and Kaitou-san and Reiya-chan who had taken a nap at Loki-kun's house all left), I put my boxes on the table and got Loki-kun to choose a cake.  Of course, he chose the perfect one and left the squashed one for me!  
I was suspicious.  How had Loki-kun known one of the cakes was squashed?  When I asked him, he told me it was 'cause I'd bumped into Him!  It got me all flustered, 'cause I didn't know it Loki-kun had been watching and thought I liked somebody else, or whether they were really the same (impossible!), or what.  And then he smiled at me, and I felt like my heart would explode.  
I spent probably a week falling into random daydreams about Him--and Koutaro-kun spent a week teasing me relentlessly about it--until I found something to distract me.  The school library got a new set of detective books!  They were about a detective dog named Meiken, and even though they were kids' books with all kinds of illustrations, I really loved them!  
I've always wanted a pet.  When I was little, it was a kitty I was going to name Nyanko-tantei, after the little cat detective in my books.  When I got a bit older, I went through stages of wanting rabbits, ferrets, horses, an alligator (don't ask!)...  
Goldfish were the only things Papa would tolerate, and they usually died in a few weeks 'cause we didn't have a good tank for them.  But I thought maybe I could sell him on the idea of a puppy, armed with the Meiken books.  A dog could even be useful around the temple!  
Sometimes it's better to present Papa with a fait accompli and then ask for permission.  With that in mind, I went to the pet store.  Yikes!  Five hundred thousand yen for a puppy?  I'd barely be able to afford the tail!  And I didn't think anybody gave dogs away for free, either.  
While I was thinking about that, something came screaming out of the sky.  I have no idea what it was, but it was fast and it gave me a chill.  But of course I had to go investigate!  I'm a detective, after all!  Or at least a detective's assistant.  What if it was a flying saucer?  Or a tengu?  Even a meteorite would be cool; anything from outer space is mysterious!  
I didn't find even a crater.  But I did find a puppy!  Not a Martian puppy or anything like that, just a regular little black puppy that was really cute and friendly.  ...and Papa **still** said no!  He said I could find the puppy a new owner, though, which was better than the kitty or the rabbit.  
Well of course I thought of Loki-kun right away.  At least then I'd be able to see the puppy all the time.  But Yamino-san wasn't any more enthusiastic about the puppy than Papa; he just dressed it up prettier.  He tried to say that Loki-kun wouldn't like it and that they couldn't decide right now.  He also said something about a 'Punyaan-san,' that was already a pet.  He tried to say he was talking to himself when I asked about it, so I think this 'Punyaan-san' must be the thing that hangs around Loki-kun that I can't see.  
Anyway!  If it was Loki-kun's decision, I was gonna take it up with Loki-kun, not Yamino-san.  Only the little brat had gone out without me on a case!  I ask you, is that fair?  Is it!?  I don't think so!  I get almost no chance to see mysteries as it is, and depriving me of another one--!  Ooooh!  
I got put back in a better mood, though, when the puppy scoffed at Yamino-san.  The look on his face was really funny!  I read somewhere that animals can understand a lot more human languages than you expect, so it didn't surprise **me** any that he understood he wasn't wanted.  
So I turned on the TV, and it was set on the news, of course; I don't think Loki-kun knows there's more than one channel.  Or maybe the TV is really Yamino-san's, given Loki-kun's general reaction to technology.  Anyway, the story on the news was about a power outage that I slept right through.  That was kind of boring, I thought.  Even if they didn't know why yet.  
But then Yamino-san said that even lights on cars and peoples' lighters went out!  That was definitely mysterious, and I said so.  (Well, actually, Yamino-san said it for me.  I guess I am kinda predictable sometimes.)  That was what Loki-kun was investigating, Yamino-san told me.  
Now that I knew, I thought I would take the puppy and go investigate for myself.  Maybe I can't see stuff that Loki-kun can (and I know for sure he can!), but everybody knows animals are more sensitive, and if I helped the puppy earn a place, Loki-kun couldn't possibly say no!  
The only thing that puppy is sensitive to is food!  He had two big imagawayaki from Narugami-kun's cart, and they weren't cheap, either.  I don't know why Narugami-kun still needs money, with the prices he charges on things like that.  They're good, but not **that** good.  And then he ran off for no reason.  I think he must've smelled something even tastier than imagawayaki.  
And then there was another of those weird blackouts.  I got the same feeling as the night before, that there was something in the sky, just before all the lights went out.  I got really worried about the puppy--what if he got stepped on in the dark?  Or ran into the road?  
I should've worried more about **me** wandering out in the road in that kind of darkness.  'Cause that's exactly what I did, and if it hadn't been for Loki-kun, I'd have died yet again.  That's why I love him so much; he's always there when it counts, even if I'm not expecting him.  
He was annoyed at me for being stupid, though.  He told me to go home with a look on his face that told me I'd better not disobey him this time.  Yamino-san, who it didn't surprise me to see was with Loki-kun, told me to be careful in the dark, and I thought that was a real good idea.  Pushing my luck and wandering out in front of another truck might not be a good idea.  
I did take the time to go see if the truck driver was okay, though.  It was kind of my fault he overturned his truck, after all.  He was shaken up, but okay, and glad that I was all right.  He didn't blame me, either; he said it was so dark he wasn't surprised I was in the road instead of on the sidewalk, and said he was glad he'd caught a glimpse of my white blouse.  
I will never go out of the house after dark without something white on again.  Even just to take the trash out.  
The next morning, I went looking for the puppy, and I didn't find him.  I went to Loki-kun's house to tell them, and Yamino-san guessed.  I just hoped the puppy hadn't been grabbed by somebody mean!  
I got distracted, though, by the map Loki-kun and Yamino-san had out.  Loki-kun had put a chess piece on the park where I found the puppy, because it was near a lot of the blackouts.  I wondered if maybe the thing that fell out of the sky was related.  
We went to investigate, of course.  I hoped to maybe see an alien, that would be really fun and mysterious!  And I took dog food along, because I know what's in it and they might like it--and besides, the puppy might still have come back to the park where I found it.  
Can you believe that we found a huge crater!?  It had to be at least twenty or thirty meters across, and probably ten or fifteen meters deep!  And while we were looking at it, there was a solar eclipse.  That was out and out freakish.  Solar eclipses are on the news for days in advance, when one's due, and you always know.  It's not like they happen by accident or anything!  
That whatever it was came back just after the eclipse started, too.  I fell in the crater, and when I woke up, I was covered in dog food, ick!  And the park was all torn up like there'd been an earthquake...but it was funny, 'cause it was just in the park it looked that way...  Loki-kun must've had a hard fight.  
But he found the puppy!  He named it Fenrir, which is a weird name but then so is 'Loki,' and says he's not really a pet, he's a part of the family!  I was so happy, 'cause Fenrir-kun is so cute and cuddly!  Almost as cute and cuddly as Loki-kun, although I've never actually tried to cuddle him 'cause I don't think he'd take that well.  He usually has a hard enough time with just hugs.  
Loki-kun doesn't like to touch people very much, I've noticed.  I've always wondered why that is.  I mean, he doesn't ever **say** anything about it, he just gets all uncomfortable and embarrassed.  That could be a problem someday...I mean...you know...  
Um!  Anyway!  Some fortune tellers, White Night Divination, came to town and set up in an empty lot a couple of days after Loki-kun adopted Fenrir-kun.  I got one of the flyers and took it to Loki-kun; I thought maybe if I could get him to go with me, I could ask the fortune tellers to tell me about him!  
Only neither he nor Yamino-san would go with me.  So cruel!  And somehow they taught their sense of humor to the dog--he played dead to get out of going with me!  Men always gang up on the woman, I swear!  So I went by myself, 'cause I thought maybe the fortune teller could tell me something, anyway.  
Narugami-kun was in line, and he asked me to save his spot while he went back and told his boss where he was.  He didn't even give me a chance to tell him I don't like line-jumpers.  It was funny, though--Kaitou-san and Kazumi-kun were coming out of the tent, and they had their fortunes told.  Kazumi-kun was complaining 'cause they told him he'd get in trouble for his attitude.  Everybody in line could hear him complaining, in fact.  He even complained 'cause they told Kaitou-san he'd get something nice 'cause he is nice.  
It was accurate.  Or at least Kaitou-san thought I was a nice present.  I kind of object to that concept, but Kaitou-san gave me all kinds of nice compliments, and I liked that.  Which annoyed Kazumi-kun enough that when he went stomping off, he tripped on a rock and fell in the mud.  
I should've laughed.  Even if it's rude, I should've laughed.  But then I probably would've gotten dragged into the mud-slinging fight, and that would have been messy, embarrassing, and stupid.  And I wouldn't've been in Narugami-kun's spot when I got to the front of the line.  
The fortune teller's assistant was spooky.  She just appeared from nowhere!  It was mysterious, and I got excited, but if Loki-kun didn't know where I was, I probably would've changed my mind.  And if I didn't know that fortune tellers always give you that kind of spooky speech, I would've left from the fortune teller herself, too.  But I thought it was all must Atmosphere.  You can't tell fortunes without Atmosphere even if you're a total fake.  
I couldn't decide exactly what to ask first.  All my favorite mysteries crowded into my mind, except asking about Loki-kun...  I just couldn't bring myself to ask that!  I didn't want to know if it would be the opposite of my dreams...  When the fortune teller suggested she tell me about my future love, though, I got excited.  I did want to know it if my dreams **were** going to come true!  
The fortune teller had me look into the crystal ball.  I didn't see anything at first...until the fortune teller addressed me by name!  I never told her that.  And then an eye opened up inside the crystal ball, and I felt dizzy and sick and I passed out.  
I had a strange dream then, of being in a ruined castle, in a strange country that I don't think really ever existed.  First there was a strange and frightening man with long silver hair and eyes that didn't match, and he put his hands on me and then vanished.  Then Loki-kun came, and I talked to him, but it wasn't really me, it was really that guy using my body.  And then Loki-kun turned into Him again, and I was glad I was in such a beautiful dress, even if it was a dream.  
But the man using my body...it was really frightening.  Even with Loki-kun there, even knowing it was a dream...  Because that man said he wanted to eliminate Loki-kun's entire existence, and he meant it exactly literally.  He wanted to erase any memory, any trace that Loki-kun had ever existed.  He was so angry at Loki-kun, so full of hate...  
I feel unclean, somehow, whenever I remember that dream.  How could my mind even come up with something like that?  And when I came to inside the fortune teller's tent, Loki-kun was there, and he looked...  
It must have been a dream.  It can't have been real.  I won't let it have been real!  
Anyway.  I spent a lot of time at Loki-kun's house for a while after that....dream.  The only reason I didn't cut classes is because I know Loki-kun would have sent me back to school if I had.  But then Ayana-san said she wanted to have her Papa perform her wedding, and I got really involved in that!  
When Loki-kun came over, I was happy.  I thought he'd missed me, even if he tried to deny it.  But he came at a good time; I was almost done with the decorations!  I was so excited about it.  
They didn't like my decorations.  They thought I decorated the temple for my own tastes!  Even Papa!  As if I'd do something like that!  I tried really hard to make it conform to Ayana-san's tastes.  It's not **my** fault if she happens to like most of the same kind of stuff as me, really!  I was so glad when she came by with Koutaro-kun and told everyone how much she liked it.  
I was really looking forward to that wedding.  I like weddings, and Papa doesn't get to perform nearly enough of them for my tastes.  It gives me a chance to daydream about my own wedding, which definitely won't be for at least ten years.  
Maybe seven.  Or five, if I can talk Loki-kun into it.  
Anyway, so that Sunday, everybody came.  I mean, of course there was the usual ton of people I've never met before, but all of my friends came, too.  (I asked Ayana-san if that was okay first, of course!)  And Loki-kun was all dressed up in formal kimono, it was soooo cute!  He looked like he was ready for shichigosan!  
He didn't like it when I said so, though.  He screamed that he wasn't five and threw a little fit, and then got this look like a cat that's mad at you and wants to make sure you know it.  I wanted to pet him and cuddle him!  But I didn't, 'cause I still had stuff to do to get ready.  
Koutaro-kun came with me, 'cause Ayana-san somehow lost the ring, and that's still a mystery 'cause she was sure she'd left it in the box.  Koutaro-kun didn't even try to hit on me for once; I'd be insulted if I didn't know it's 'cause he has the proper respect for a religious ceremony.  
Even more mysterious, Ayana-san vanished, too!  I immediately went looking for Loki-kun, and found him by a pile of people that included Kaitou-san, Kazumi-kun, and some strange blond woman I've seen around a few times.  (I didn't ask then, and I don't think I want to know even now.  It's probably safer that way.)  
Loki-kun told Yamino-san to hunt around the temple, and had me go on with the ceremony.  How was I supposed to do that without a bride!?  But Loki-kun told me he would definitely find her, and I didn't argue with him about the ceremony because the sooner he started looking, the sooner she'd be found!  
Only then Loki-kun disappeared, too!  Yamino-san told me to stall for time, and I tried frantically to think of how.  And it was sheer desperation that led me to notice that Narugami-kun is the same height and roughly the same coloring as Ayana-san.  So I stuffed him into Mama's wedding kimono that I'll get to wear someday--in about ten years--and we started the ceremony.  
Big mistake.  Narugami-kun didn't know anything at all about Shinto weddings, and who would ever have guessed a single cup of sake could put him out?  I dragged him away, and Papa came, and I had to tell him that Ayana-san was missing, but Loki-kun was looking for her.  
Papa went out and made excuses.  As much as Papa doesn't seem to like Loki-kun, he still trusts him.  And with good reason, 'cause it wasn't long before Ayana-san was returned.  She told me later, in a letter, that a strange dark-haired woman brought a message to her from me, and she doesn't remember anything between then and waking up in the dressing room again.  If I ever find the person who used my name for that kind of thing, I--I don't know what I'll do, but it won't be nice!  
Anyway, Ayana-san is happily married now, and we still keep in touch even though she's moved to Kyoto.  She's going to have a baby soon!  I'm so envious.  
I wonder what Loki-kun's baby would look like...?  
Loki-kun said he was sick of the wedding when I wished to have one like it.  I wonder if I should worry about that?  But no, if I think about that, I might give up, and that would be a bad thing.  You can't get anywhere in life if you give up on the things you love the most!  
Like Yamino-san.  He sent in lots of applications to that show, Kitchen Sanctuary.  I helped him fill some of them out, even.  We watched it together just about every week, and it was so great when he was finally accepted!  
Can you believe that even though Yamino-san and me watch the show together every week, Loki-kun didn't even know what it was?  I demonstrated the opening for him--it was really cute to see his eyes go all wide and shocked.  Yamino-san was amused, too, I could tell, but he explained better for Loki-kun.  And of course, Yamino-san accepted me as an assistant!  I've helped him before, though I don't think Loki-kun knows that, so he knew he could count on me.  
I think the only reason he accepted Narugami-kun, though, was 'cause he's a little afraid of Narugami-kun.  Then again, Narugami-kun's a good cook, so he wasn't a bad choice, either.  We were all excited, and Narugami-kun and me started talking about the prize money.  
Loki-kun had the gall to suggest we might lose!  With Yamino-san's cooking, especially with me and Narugami-kun helping?  Impossible!  
I was so excited on the day we were supposed to go that I didn't even get jealous that Loki-kun invited Reiya-chan along.  Well, not much, anyway.  Especially since he forgot her out in the hall, or something.  
I don't know why, but Yamino-san insisted on calling us Snake Team.  And we were facing off against Hawk Team--and can you believe that it was Kazumi-kun and Kaitou-san and that pig?  What are the odds, really?  But I was starting to regret, a little, volunteering, especially when Narugami-kun started spouting off about being poor.  That's his fault, not mine or Yamino-san's.  
Loki-kun was picked as the special judge.  That sounded kind of mysterious to me.  I started to get the suspicion that maybe something strange was going on.  It's a little too much to believe in coincidence when so many people who are always at the center of mysterious things show up on a random show together.  
Even more, the main ingredient was a live giant squid!  I didn't think you were allowed to cook those!  I got so excited to see it, though--I never saw one before, and it was definitely mysterious.  
Narugami-kun and me behaved very badly, I'm ashamed to admit.  Narugami-kun didn't listen to anything Yamino-san said, and I was so excited about the squid and the cameras and stuff that I just spaced out and went to coo over the squid.  We settled down after a while, though, and started actually cooking instead of showing off stupidly.  (Kaitou-san, sadly, didn't do the same.)  
So Yamino-san asked me to put some lettuce on a dish, and I couldn't find any right away.  I turned my head, though, and when I looked back, there was lettuce where a tomato had been!  I said something about it to Yamino-san, but he was a little preoccupied.  I figured maybe I should talk to Loki-kun about it later.  
I don't think the squid liked it that I noticed the tomato.  One of the dismembered arms wrapped around me and started wiggling and moving on its own!  I was so creeped out I ran right out of the studio and into another one!  The next thing I remember, I was waking up in the security office, all wet, and so was Reiya-chan.  
Mysterious.  And troublesome.  I've never been arrested before that, even if it was just security and not really the police.  If Loki-kun and Yamino-san and Narugami-kun hadn't vouched for us, though, Reiya-chan and me would have been arrested for real.  And Kitchen Sanctuary didn't even get shown!  I blame Kazumi-kun and Kaitou-san.  
It got quiet for a while then.  Two whole weeks without even one case!  How boring.  So when the mysterious letter appeared, I was so excited I didn't bother to think about the fact that nobody had been there to drop it off.  
Supposedly, there was a haunted house with laughter that wouldn't go away.  We went to the place where we were going to meet--it was a dusty and abandoned house--and Yamino-san and me got startled by the laughter.  If we hadn't been in that kind of place, I don't think it would have been as scary.  Especially since it was just a stupid prank.  
Except Loki-kun didn't think it was an ordinary prank.  He said something about feeling evil on the letter, which I didn't understand, but by then I was used to Loki-kun saying things like that.  I wasn't listening all that close, though, 'cause I found a pretty little gold mirror.  
Loki-kun got all upset about that mirror.  He snatched it away before I could even touch it, and somehow it broke right in his hands!  I thought he must've gotten hurt, and Yamino-san spazzed, but Loki-kun said he was okay, so we just...went home.  
Loki-kun greeted somebody named 'Ecchan' when we got there.  I've noticed he does that sometimes--talks to thin air, I mean.  Or to Fenrir-kun.  I mean, I talk to Fenrir-kun, too, but Loki-kun acts like he gets actual conversation out of it.  
Anyway.  I said that Loki-kun says weird stuff sometimes, which he **does**, and he came back and told me that it wasn't as much as I say!  Oooh, really!  Just 'cause I like to talk about mysteries, and Loki-kun never willingly tells me anything mysterious--!  
But then Loki-kun started acting really weird!  I mean, really totally nuts!  He sat there and went 'punyaan punyaan punyaan' over and over, and then he didn't seem to remember it...and then he acted like he was talking for Fenrir-kun, 'cause Fenrir-kun is all nice and cuddly around Loki-kun, and a lot less so when Loki-kun's not there--and especially I think it was Fenrir-kun 'cause Yamino-san said something about Loki-kun acting weird, and Fenrir-kun attacked him like he does sometimes.  
I tried to check if Loki-kun had a fever, and I felt something weird--like something was reading my mind or something.  It only lasted a couple of heartbeats, but it was unnerving.  And then Loki-kun started acting like **me**!  I thought he was trying to pull a prank on me, so I challenged him to see who could find more mysteries... I should've known something was actually really wrong when he didn't get upset that I said he doesn't know how to have fun.  
I really did go out looking for mysteries, too.  I was determined that if Loki-kun was pulling a prank, I'd upstage him for sure!  And if he'd actually done it, I bet I would have, too!  But I think maybe he really was pulling a prank, even though I heard from Reiya-chan later that he was acting weird all day, 'cause he just gave me that superior look he's got and told me he didn't really like mysteries, after all, when I came in with the results.  
I was so mad about that, I spent the next three days hanging out with Koutaro-kun.  I was surprised that I only had to slap him twice.  Probably the fact that we spent most of our time challenging each other at the arcade had something to do with it, though.  We were still on really good terms even a couple weeks later, when I'd gone back to the agency more often, so when we heard that Narugami-kun was working part-time at a dojo, we decided to go heckle him.  His reactions are always so funny!  
It was way more fun, though, and a little brain-breaking, to see him all blushing at the dojo owner's daughter.  I had to go tell Loki-kun right away!  And Koutaro-kun didn't even argue with me over it the way he usually does.  
Loki-kun and Yamino-san were just as boggled as me about it, too!  I told them I was absolutely sure, though, and I think Loki-kun was planning on taunting Narugami-kun about it.  He had that look where his eyes are all wide and a little too innocent to trust, see.  And I knew I was right when Loki-kun joked that Narugami-kun's love life was the biggest mystery our agency had ever had.  
It's strange, though...I haven't seen Yayoi-san since that time, and Narugami-kun doesn't work at that dojo anymore.  Koutaro-kun hasn't even been able to find one trace of Yayoi-san, either.  And Narugami-kun absolutely won't talk about out, won't even listen if you try to say something about it...  
Anyway.  Reiya-chan came by a couple days later wearing a pair of boots she said were from Loki-kun.  They were really cute boots, but as soon as I heard her say that, I got really incredibly jealous!  I didn't pay any attention to Loki-kun's denials.  He'll do that if he feels like teasing someone.    
Well, if he was giving out presents, he shouldn't overlook me!  I told him about this little cocktail dress I really like, white with black spots, it's so cute!  But he was only interested in giving Reiya-chan presents, I guess.  Boo!  Boo boo boo!  
Reiya-chan made snacks, though, and Yamino-san was still standing there, so I didn't get out the seaweed even though I really, really wanted to.  Ignore me, will you, Loki-kun?  I'll teach you a lesson about that!  Anyway, Reiya-chan started talking about how her cookies would make you sleep, and tarts that would make you numb, and a cake that would make you laugh, and an apple tart that would make you dance.  I thought she had to be kidding.  I mean, it's Reiya-chan!  I don't think she's got a mean bone in her body.  So I had one of the cookies.  
She apologized a lot when I woke up.  She said she didn't know why she'd done it, but she hadn't felt like she could resist.  I say that's a mystery, don't you?  And Loki-kun must've thought so, too, 'cause he went out while I was sleeping.  
He looked all sad and lonely when he came home.  It hurt my heart.  What did he have to do out there that upset him so much?  I wanted to hug him and cuddle him, but all I could do was what the others were doing--getting him to sit down to dinner with us and distract him.  
And after Narugami-kun and Reiya-chan went home, I made him eat seaweed.  He complained that it had been months since that pet store thing, but he ate it anyway.  And he was distracted for sure, which was what I'd intended.  
Unfortunately, he didn't stay distracted.  
It rained again two days later, a really heavy downpour.  I met Reiya-chan outside Loki-kun's gate, and we were both totally soaked!  We agreed as we went in that we'd say we had been passing by and needed to take shelter for a while, 'cause we didn't want Loki-kun to know we were worried about him.  
Narugami-kun either had the same idea or really did need shelter, 'cause he came in only a few seconds after we did.  I suggested we play a game, while we stood there dripping on Loki-kun's carpet.  Loki-kun agreed, but he was preoccupied; I'm not sure he really noticed or cared when Yamino-san ushered us all out to get dried off.  
We played poker for cookie counters for a couple of hours.  Loki-kun spent more time cheating than playing for real, but I learned to read his markers ages ago, so I won more often than I lost.  But then the rain stopped suddenly.  
I was a little worried, 'cause it **was** so sudden, but it meant me and Reiya-chan didn't have much excuse to stay.  Narugami-kun had to get back to work, too, and Yamino-san decided to go get groceries...and Loki-kun was all tense and wary when he said he was going, too.  
That was a good clue I was right to be worried, I thought.  And the whole city felt strange--there's always this feeling when you're someplace you've been before, and it feels different when you're someplace new even if it looks the same.  I was getting that feeling really strong, even though I knew every brick and every inch of pavement in the area.  And there were no people!  Kids always come out to play as soon as it stops raining, and sometimes even before.  
Loki-kun noticed it, too.  He was scared, even.  And it got even worse as we got to the market.  It was really creepy!  I tried to keep from showing how nervous it was making me, going on about the Bermuda Triangle and UFOs, but I don't know if I succeeded.  Everybody else started doing the same kind of thing, though.  
Loki-kun said we should be there, so we tried to go home.  Only we just wound up back at the market again!  I could've cried, except that would've made Reiya-chan upset, and distracted Loki-kun.  So when I heard voices, I didn't even think about it, I just went to find the people!  
I don't know what happened then.  Maybe I passed out, because I had a strange dream about a place made of rainbows and shadows, and Loki-kun and Kazumi-kun were standing in the middle of it.  It started to break apart, and Kazumi-kun fell...and then we were all just...standing out in the rain, in the middle of the yard at home.  
Loki-kun was crying.  He must have really loved Kazumi-kun, after all.  And I think we all knew that there was nothing we could do for him.  We just...went inside silently.  
He stayed out there all night, until the storm broke.  And then he came inside without speaking and went to his room.  When he came out again, it was like nothing had happened...except that Loki-kun's eyes were still dull.  
When almost a week passed and I barely saw Loki-kun, I went to see Koutaro-kun.  I needed to talk to **somebody** about my concerns, and Koutaro-kun understands me better than any of the rest of my friends.  Except maybe Loki-kun, but Loki-kun was who I wanted to talk about!  Anyway, in the end, it wound up being that I promised I'd go with Koutaro-kun to his summer cabin...if he'd invite Loki-kun and Yamino-san and Reiya-chan.  He also invited those three girls from White Night Divination, I think 'cause I told him flat out that I didn't care if that's where he only took girls to...you know...I wasn't gonna.  
'Course, I don't think any of them did, either.  And can you believe all three of them knew Loki-kun?  They called him 'Loki-sama.'  Really!  But they were happy to play with Koutaro-kun so me and Reiya-chan could concentrate on Loki-kun.  
That was a good thing, 'cause at first I think he wanted to keep on sulking, but we bullied him into at least setting up a chair on the dock.  We tried to get him to come into the water with us, but he wouldn't.  Not even when we teased him that he swims like an iron duck, so I guess he can't swim.  I think we were in danger of our lives right then, though, so it's probably a good thing me and Reiya-chan swim like fish.  
So after we played like mermaids for a while (there aren't any real ones in that lake, I checked), and I found out that girls in bikinis make Loki-kun feel better real fast the same way it does Koutaro-kun, Yamino-san came out with fresh-squeezed fruit juice just in time for everybody to be thirsty.  Yamino-san is good at that.  
So's Narugami-kun.  He showed up with one of his little carts, selling lemonade and grilled corn and soba!  Before anybody had a chance to buy anything from him, though, Kaitou-san showed up and tried to act out an old fairytale!  (I was disappointed, I thought maybe Nessie was on vacation with us, too, or maybe there really **were** mermaids in the lake!)  
It's sad, but even if I didn't love Loki-kun the way I do, Kaitou-san wouldn't stand a chance.  I know I'm not exactly a model of public propriety, but Kaitou-san is flat-out embarrassing to be around sometimes.  So I just went and bought my grilled corn.  I love grilled corn.  I still had Yamino-san's fruit juice, though.  Narugami-kun gave me dirty looks, but fair's fair, after all.  
Besides, he didn't even stare at my cleavage as much as Yamino-san had, which wasn't much.  That makes a girl feel unloved!  
Anyway, after lunch we all adjourned to the bath.  Urd-san and Skuld-san and Ber...bur...Berdandi-san...no, Verdandi-san, that's right.  Anyway, they're all sisters, and they decided to taunt the boys.  The started talking really loud about how warm and soft and stretchy some...thing...was.  I don't know what it was, 'cause I couldn't see it, but Reiya-chan could, so I know it was really real.  I bet it was that...Ecchan that Loki-kun and Yamino-san are always talking to.  (I have a picture with a mysterious pink floating thing in it that would be just the right size for what they were petting.  I wonder if that's Ecchan?)  
I tried to ask Koutaro-kun about the prank later, but he didn't wanna talk about it.  And the only thing Loki-kun was willing to say was that he didn't appreciate having to fish Koutaro-kun and Kaitou-san and Narugami-kun out of the bath before they drowned.  (The sisters were smug.  I wish I could have played, too!)  
Koutaro-kun dragged me along to get a watermelon for dinner later.  He said he wanted to talk to me about some stuff, but he didn't say anything.  I was a little annoyed, especially since it was such a long walk!  I think he must've noticed, though, 'cause when I stopped to admire some lilies, he went on ahead and gave me some time by myself.  
I used it to good advantage and told the lilies all about how frustrated I was with men in general and Koutaro-kun, Loki-kun, and Kaitou-san in specific.  After that I felt a lot better, so I picked one of the lilies as a memento and went to catch up with Koutaro-kun.  
Do you know that lily turned brown and rotten by the time I caught up to him?  He hadn't gone that far, but I don't think he was actually waiting for me--or if he was, he'd seen some other girl.  I know that look on his face.  I was really surprised--about the flower, I mean, not the girl.  Koutaro-kun likes girls too easily for that to surprise me.  
Yamino-san had a good time at the barbecue.  He cooked, of course, and he had all three of those girls all over him 'cause it was so good.  Yamino-san isn't as bad as Koutaro-kun, of course, but what kind of guy doesn't like having three pretty girls crowding around him?  Even the gay guys I know are happy to be appreciated.  And from the way Yamino-san was flirting with Urd-san, I don't think he's gay.  
Anyway, Kaitou-san ate almost all the roasted peppers, and Narugami-kun and the pig ate all the rice, which left the rest of us to have serving after serving of Yamino-san's smoked kebabs and Koutaro-kun's and my watermelon.  Nobody really complained about that except Narugami-kun and Kaitou-san.  
I don't think I like Skuld-san very much, though.  I mean, okay, lots of girls flirt with Loki-kun, so I guess that's not really a reason to dislike someone.  But she pushed Reiya-chan out of the way to do it!  That's just mean!  
...of course, that's when I realized that maybe Reiya-chan was even more competition than I thought.  She turned into that weird blond lady, and called Loki-kun "her Loki!"  He's **my** Loki-kun!  But at least she told Skuld-san off properly.  
I did pretend not to notice.  Though I probably ought to be insulted that everybody (except Koutaro-kun, but he was pretending, too, even though he kept looking at her butt and her bosom) fell for it.  Really, I am **not** that unobservant!  How could anybody on the whole planet miss it when a little girl turns into a full-grown woman?  Especially when you're sitting at the same table!  
But Koutaro-kun and me got to talking, and I found out that, yes, it was a girl he met.  And he was miffed, 'cause she just up and vanished.  On the spot.  He didn't want to admit she had to be a ghost, either.  So after dinner, when we were all stuffed nobody wanted to move, and Narugami-kun kind of hinted that he wanted to take a walk with me, I decided I'd go look for the spirit girl myself.  Not with Narugami-kun, either.  I don't think he honestly minded; Yamino-san said later that he tried to steal my ice cream three times while I was gone.  
And in the way these kinds of things always go, as soon as I stopped looking for spirits and started looking for a UFO, there she was.  It was like she was waiting for me.  She smiled at me and went into the woods, like she wanted me to follow her, so of course I did.  Ghosts are sad creatures, and if you ever get a chance to help make one happy (and not a ghost anymore, usually), you really should.  
I think this one was a vengeful ghost, though, 'cause she led me out into the forest until I got totally lost.  I thought I was in a meadow at one point, when she vanished, but then I turned around and all the trees were leering at me and laughing a crazy, scary laugh!  And then my flashlight went out, and I got scared--well, who wouldn't?  So I ran.  
Right off the edge of a cliff I didn't see until it was too late.  Only Loki-kun was there, and he saved me again!  I can't even count how many times he's saved my life anymore.  
I got the feeling I was used as bait, though, when a hawk--I'd swear that same one that was at the zoo all that time ago, I really would, and the same one that stole that necklace from Loki-kun--attacked us.  Now, I was watching really close, and I know it wasn't a trick of the light, as much as I'd like to believe that, but...Loki-kun's eyes glowed red.  I had the feeling that he was doing something.  The wind started blowing right at the hawk--on a totally still night, mind--and then Loki-kun told me to go back to the cabin.  
He ran off without even a backward look.  
I suddenly felt lonely, like I wouldn't ever see him again.  Or if I did, everything would be totally changed.  I've never had a feeling that strong before, it was scary.  I couldn't just go tamely back to the cabin after that!  I had to follow him, even though I knew I might get in the way of his battle.  
I should have gone back to the cabin.  If I had, then nothing at all would have changed.  I would never have seen what Loki-kun can really do, and I would have been just as happy that way!  I ran back to the cabin after I saw it, as fast as I could--and it was a good thing it was Koutaro-kun who caught me coming in and nobody else, 'cause I was crying and I didn't even know it.  He got me to calm down and wash my face before Loki-kun got back, and I promised to tell him what happened after we got home.  
Loki-kun smiled at me when he got home.  It hurt.  It was like there was a pane of glass between us, and no matter how much I wanted to reach out to him, it would always be in the way from then on.  I couldn't forget it even when we were playing with sparkler sticks...especially because Loki-kun chose a red one.  The way he stared at it, too...it was like he was trying to fake being content just as much as I was.  
I had to keep my promise to Koutaro-kun when we got home, too.  He came to a Mystery Club meeting--since I'm the only member, we'd be alone, and he knew it.  And I told him everything that happened and got so upset I cried all over him.  
Koutaro-kun is the best of friends.  I don't know what I would have done if he hadn't been there.  He comforted me and didn't even try to grope me.  He said I was worrying for nothing, probably, and I should at least try to find out the truth before I got so upset.  He offered to help me, too, and then he said the nicest thing I've ever heard.  He said that even if Loki-kun was something special, it didn't mean anything, because I'm special, too.  I may not believe him, but it made me feel better to hear it.  
I tried to ask Loki-kun straight out...but I just couldn't!  Even when Loki-kun told me I could, tried to get me to tell him...it was too hard.  He acted like nothing at all had changed.  For him, I guess it hadn't.  But for me...  
Yamino-san came in and asked us to come down to the garden, but I decided to leave.  It was too painful, trying to stay around Loki-kun right then.  Besides, the party would be a perfect time to sneak back in and check out Loki-kun's house for clues, since everybody would be outside.  
Which is what I did.  I knew it was a risk, of course.  I just didn't think I'd get caught right away!  Of course, I didn't really, but I forgot all those weird statues Loki-kun has all over the first floor.  Honestly, there **is** a limit to how much mysterious stuff one person ought to collect!  
All I found on the first floor, besides those statues, was a comedy video I bet belonged to Yamino-san, and some really excellent pudding.  I almost got caught over that pudding, too.  Yamino-san came in, and I had to hide under the table!  I felt totally exposed down there.  It's just a good thing that Yamino-san's brother is a glutton...whoever he is.  
Since I'd searched the whole first floor by then, I decided I had to go to Loki-kun's study.  Really, if there were any clues to be found, they'd probably be there.  
Always before when I'd gone into Loki-kun's study, even when he wasn't there and I had to wait for him, it was a warm and inviting place, a place where I felt safe.  Just like the first time, it had always been a sanctuary.  But this time was different.  It felt cold and otherworldly.  I felt like I was someplace I should never have come.  I sat in Loki-kun's chair and tried to pretend it was his lap...only all I could do was remember how his eyes were glowing, and how far away he felt.  
I shook off the feeling and got up.  Something seemed to call me from the chest of drawers by the door, something vaguely familiar, so I went to look, and I found that necklace.  It still had that strange feeling of love, dazzling enough that I couldn't immediately place where I'd seen it before.  
That was when Loki-kun came in.  He was so cold to me!  I...I know I was wrong to break in like that, but even so...I felt like my heart was breaking.  I tried to explain, I tried to tell him, but I knew at that moment that somehow I lost him forever.  
I've never felt pain like that before, or since.  I hope I never do again.  Knowing it was my own fault, knowing that if I had just kept my stupid curiosity in check, it would never have happened...it hurt so much I didn't even feel like I could cry.  And I didn't want to be around anyone, not even Papa.  I didn't feel like he'd understand.  
Then that girl came through my window.  I recognized her, of course--she was the angry ghost.  I didn't have time to react, though, before pain that was really physical squeezed me so hard I fainted.  
When I woke up, I was tangled in some kind of web that shimmered like nacre, but felt sticky like a super strong spider web.  It was disgusting...but worse was the feel in the air.  It was like time didn't pass in that place, like everything and everyone there was already dead....even me.  
Kazumi-kun was there.  He watched me, but he never said anything.  I felt, somehow, like he was trying to tell me something just by being silent...or maybe he was asking me something.  In any case, he didn't scare me anymore.  I just felt sad for him.  And for that girl.  
I can't imagine feeling pain like hers.  
She came to me and told me, almost bragged to me, that her father hated her, even though she loves him dearly.  She was envious that I have Papa to love me...I could feel how much she hurt inside, somehow, and I tried...I said there couldn't be a parent that hated their child.  She slapped me then with all of her strength and started to cry.  I could see that she wanted to believe me so much, and just couldn't.  
But if her father is...I know he loves her.  He must.  There's no way he's capable of not...  
I don't know how long it was after she left that everything changed.  I don't even know if I can describe how everything changed, because the place was still dead.  It was just as if...suddenly, it wasn't just dead, it was abandoned, too.  Kazumi-kun came not long after that and cut me down from the web.  He still didn't say anything as he carried me home--it felt strange, to have someone other than Loki-kun protect me that way.  Even so, it was a similar feeling.  
I wouldn't talk about it with Papa, but that was okay.  We just spent all night in the shrine together, until we both felt sure I was really there, and really safe.  And in the morning, I needed to go see Loki-kun.  
His house was all packed up, and Yamino-san said...he was gone.  He said Loki-kun had disappeared, that he might come back 'one day.'  One day?  One **day**!?  That wasn't a good enough answer!  I needed to see Loki-kun!  Why couldn't he understand that?  Loki-kun...  
I looked everywhere I could think of for him.  Narugami-kun even helped me, because I cried.  I don't think he expected me to ever find Loki-kun.  It was as if my premonition was coming true:  that I would never see Loki-kun again.  
Just like...  
I left Narugami-kun to keep searching on my own.  If you give up, you can't ever get anywhere.  I would keep searching, I thought, until the very last moment of my life, if that was how long it took.  
Finally, in the end, the only place I could think of to go was back to his house.  It was so empty...just an old, empty, lonely house.  I walked up to the study...and felt like maybe I shouldn't go in.  What if Loki-kun did come home and got mad at me again?  
I heard something inside, and didn't hesitate anymore.  I burst through the door, expecting to see Loki-kun, and instead, it was...Him.  Sitting in Loki-kun's seat, looking at me with Loki-kun's eyes.  
Or at least that was how I felt, for a moment.  I was so eager to be reunited with Loki-kun...because it's not possible for that to happen, or wouldn't Loki-kun have done it before?  But the longer I spent with him, the more certain I became that it really was Loki-kun.  He was so much older...but there was the same feel about him...  
We walked to the park as I told him about how Loki-kun was missing.  I felt strange while I did that.  If it really was Loki-kun...  And finally, I had to ask.  
He said he was just a friend of Loki-kun's.  I was absolutely sure that he was lying.  He had the same kinds of little signs as Loki-kun, too, and there was a sadness in his eyes when he looked at me.  
There was something in his hand that he kept looking at as we talked.  If he really was capable of what I thought he was, I decided, I probably didn't want it.  I saw that American movie, Superman, and I always thought it was sad for both of them that Superman took away Lois-san's memories.  And that's just the sort of thing Loki-kun would want to do.  
I told him that I would keep looking, even if I didn't know where Loki-kun was.  He offered to help, and I knew he was going to give me whatever it was in his hand, so I said no.  Politely, of course.  I turned to go, and he called me back.  
For a moment, I swear, I thought I saw wings.  And then he claimed to be a god and said he'd grant me a wish.  He smiled at me in the way that Loki-kun has, and I thought, for a moment, that it truly **must** be him.  
I laughed at him.  It was so cute to see his reaction!  I wanted to throw my arms around his neck and hug him forever.  But no matter wha he really was, I didn't believe in gods.  So he couldn't be Loki-kun, not really.  
I tried to explain.  I didn't believe in gods because Mama died.  I know it's silly to say that.  People die every day, because they have to, and gods ought to know that.  But...I needed her then.  I was the daughter of a priest, already half-trained as a miko.  And nobody answered my prayers.  Not even to say that it was Mama's time, and they were sorry.  
He just looked sad.  I turned and started to walk away.  
But I couldn't just go...  I couldn't help it.  I stopped and said that I...I couldn't stand to lose Loki-kun, too.  I made my wish, even without believing in gods.  
To see Loki-kun again!  
I searched for him for the rest of the day and well into the night.  Finally, again, I came back to his house.  It looked so sad and empty...like I felt.  I couldn't help it, I started to cry...and I prayed for the first time since that day that Mama died.  
And then he was there!  Loki-kun!  He was there, and he smiled at me, and--!  And I fell to my knees and I hugged him and cried on him.  And he said my name...  
Maybe Koutaro-kun was right.  Even if Loki-kun is someone...something...special, it doesn't matter.  Because I know for sure that he loves me, and that makes everything all right.  
Even if he is still a little strange. 

**Owari**


End file.
